Wild Bird Wednesday 358 - Sooty Tern

WBW is still on Lord Howe Island this week, meanwhile, I am not!

The Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) is probably one of the most noticeable birds on LHI - any walker by the sea is likely to accompanied by these birds, and in some places you have to swerve around them as they sit on the beach.

I took this pictures on a rather warm day and many of the birds were just loafing about on the beach.  You can tell what the weather was like from the colour of the skies in the flight pictures.

This tern is about 45cm long with a wing span that approaches 100cm.  They are splendid birds.  The brown bird in the final picture is a well grown fledgling.  Clearly the sun was making at least one bird a little itchy!

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Blue

Near the end of a snorkelling trip in the lagoon at Lord Howe Island we found this large patch of purple / lavender / blue coral.  I am not experienced in the ways of coral reefs, but I have say I found this most remarkable.

I like the colour in these pictures, but also the addition of a fish or two in each pictures.

If you get the chance to go to LHI, take it.

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 357 - Grey Ternlet

Back to Lord Howe Island for WBW this week.

On what was a very calm day, we went out to have a look at Balls Pyramid, which is a rock stack about 20km southeast of LHI.  It is a remarkable piece of rock sitting in the Pacific Ocean.

As we drew close to the Pyramid a small number of Grey Ternlets (Procelsterna albivitta) began to fly around the boat.  They never came very close, but against the clear blue sky I was able to get some nice images.  (I almost always prefer to give the birds a bit of space in my pictures.)

Once we got to the Pyramid itself the birds came closer, but the swell around the rocks made the whole photographic thing much harder.

The above sequence of threes pictures was taken as a bird was flying towards me - I rather like them.
The Grey Ternlet is a pelagic species which I think I was pretty lucky to be able to see without sea-sickness being involved!

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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Ghosts

I was in South Melbourne last month to listen to the Choir my wife sings in.  While I was waiting for the doors to open I found these ghosts on a local building.  I rather like the 'Top Hat Cough' line!

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 356 - Red-Rumped Parrot

When I photographing the herons from last week, a small parrot flew into one of the bushes near where I was standing.

Once I managed to track in down I identified it as a Red-Rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) which is common enough in my area, but I normally see them on sports ovals or on grassy verges.  This bird sat on a branch for a minute or so before flying off.  I returned to the herons.

I few minutes later the bird returned, but this time landed on the ground.  It was a very obliging bird, and although I got the knees of my trousers dirty (oh, what a shame!) I was able to get much closer to this bird than normal.

I rather like the pictures with the plant stalks in its beak.  I assume it was eating the buds on the plant.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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A Walk to the Woods

Wistman's Wood in Devon, in the southwest of the UK is one of the highest Oak woodlands in Britain - the oaks are small and twisted and the ground below them is strewn with moss covered boulders.  It is without question a rather magical place.

I visited the wood on a bright, early winter afternoon and it was really rather wonderful.  One day I'll get to go there in the spring I hope!

I also took some images of classic Dartmoor landscapes on the way to the woods.  This area may not be the most famous part of the UK - everyone going into raptures about the Cotswolds and similar places - but if you get the chance to visit, take it. (I admit I am biased - I was born a couple of hours up the road!)

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 355 - White-faced Heron

I spent some time at my local patch this weekend, hoping to find the family of Blue Wrens that were there a couple of weeks ago.  But no luck on that front.

We have had some rain is recent weeks - although not enough - and parts of the pond which had been bone dry for weeks were now underwater again.  This White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) was feeding in the shallow water.  Despite my best efforts I could not see what it was catching - what ever it was, it was small.

As you can see from the dust and such like on the water, this is not the most pristine of locations.  But it does always hold birds.  There will be more from this visit next week.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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